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| India-Pakistan |
| Militancy in urban areas |
| 2014-12-24 |
| [DAWN] PRIME Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... has vowed to take the fight against faceless myrmidons to cities and villages across the country, pledging to stamp out terrorism wherever it exists. In clear and unequivocal words, Mr Sharif has not only accepted that urban Pakistain has a significant bully boy problem, his statement is a vast improvement on the old formulation that whatever the terrorist and bully boy presence in urban Pakistain, it is a function of individuals and small splinter groups, and not a systematic, organised presence across the provinces. Yet, there is much more clarity that the government needs to bring to the issue publicly. In condemning specific atrocities and vowing that those responsible will not be allowed to repeat their crimes, the prime minister left out a significant part of the explanation: identifying the groups involved. Without identities revealed, groups named, organizations described and methods exposed, the prime minister's vow will amount to little more than a seemingly firm but in reality nebulous promise to stamp out terrorism wherever it is found. Terrorism has a face. It has an identity. The bully boy groups that organise in the cities have physical networks and infrastructure. It is not just nameless men killed in alleged encounters with the police, as happened in the Sohrab Goth area of Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... again this week. If terrorism is to be defeated, it has to first be identified. Names have to be named, networks have to be publicly declared and the full spectrum of extremism and militancy laid bare. But none of that has occurred so far. Why, for example, does the government not state which groups are active in Punjab, name the leadership, explain the connection between bad boy religious centres and terrorist recruiting, and, more to the point, make clear the measures the state is taking to progressively shut down the terrorist and bully boy organizations that have been identified? The same applies to the other provinces. Is the federal government able to do more than simply talk about cooperating with the province in counterterrorism efforts? As ever, few details were given by the prime minister. Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the state's, particularly the political government's, approach to counterterrorism is to co-opt certain sections of the police and civilian-run intelligence to fight a dirty, clandestine war against unnamed terrorists. All that the public is ever told is that faceless myrmidons and gunnies are killed in encounters where independent witnesses are nearly never present. But that has not and cannot prove to be a successful strategy -- let alone a remotely ethical or legal one -- because it is simply about cracking down on visible sides of militancy, not the roots that help grow new cells, more fighters and fresh ideologues. The prime minister needed to speak firmly and a worried nation needed to hear of the government's resolve. But what is the plan? |
| Posted by:Fred |